A trocar assembly is a surgical instrument that is used to puncture a body cavity. A trocar assembly generally comprises two major components, a trocar tube and an obturator. The trocar tube is inserted through the skin to access a body cavity through the tube in which laparoscopic or arthroscopic surgery and endoscopic procedures are to be performed. In order to penetrate the skin, the distal end of the trocar tube is placed against the skin and an obturator is inserted through the tube. The obturator has a sharp point or cutting edge at its distal end. By applying pressure against the proximal end of the obturator, the sharp point is forced through the skin until it enters the body cavity. The trocar tube is inserted through the perforation made by the obturator and the obturator is withdrawn, leaving the trocar tube as an access-way to the body cavity. Examples of trocar assemblies are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,773.
Trocar assemblies currently range in size up to about 12 mm in diameter. As new medical procedures and tools and implements emerge, trocar assemblies having larger diameter interior lumens will be required. It is frequently necessary to utilize different size tools and implements during a medical procedure. It has heretofore been necessary to utilize multiple trocar assemblies during a medical procedure to accommodate implements and tools of different diameters.
There is a need for trocar assembly devices and methods of utilizing such devices that are compatible with the expanding number of large size implements and tools that may be required during a medical procedure. Such devices would reduce the number of trocar assemblies presently required during many medical procedures.